http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/entertainment-law-update-episode/id313301718?i=86484747
Gordon Firemark and Tamara Bennett discuss the uses of Entertainment Law in relation to current events. The first situation that he mentions is an incident involving Justin Bieber with 15 year old that had invaded Bieber's privacy on Twitter. Justin Bieber got revenge on the person by retweeting the kid's phone number on his account. The result was a mass reception of phone calls and messages to the point the kid had to change his number. The discussion revolved around whether or not Justin Bieber would be criminally liable in this situation and if it would to go small claims court or if it is a misuse of telecommunications on Justin Bieber's side. The next subject was an issue of Joel Tennebaum getting sued by the record industry for hosting music files on a peer-to-peer network. This case is being referred in this podcast as the case that will never die being held in the District Court Of Massachusetts. The judge brought the damages down from $675,000 to $67,500 by 90% as July 9, 2010. This case is based on the fact on how much the damages this copyright infringement has caused overall for the record companies.
Gordon Firemark and Tamara Bennett discuss the uses of Entertainment Law in relation to current events. The first situation that he mentions is an incident involving Justin Bieber with 15 year old that had invaded Bieber's privacy on Twitter. Justin Bieber got revenge on the person by retweeting the kid's phone number on his account. The result was a mass reception of phone calls and messages to the point the kid had to change his number. The discussion revolved around whether or not Justin Bieber would be criminally liable in this situation and if it would to go small claims court or if it is a misuse of telecommunications on Justin Bieber's side. The next subject was an issue of Joel Tennebaum getting sued by the record industry for hosting music files on a peer-to-peer network. This case is being referred in this podcast as the case that will never die being held in the District Court Of Massachusetts. The judge brought the damages down from $675,000 to $67,500 by 90% as July 9, 2010. This case is based on the fact on how much the damages this copyright infringement has caused overall for the record companies.
The next topic involved Kate Gosselin from the TV show, Jon And Kate Plus 8, on the topic of the children having proper work permits to be a part of the TV series. Kate Gosselin's brother testified in court, during Kate and Jon's divorce trial, that the constant filming of the television show might have some psychological effects on the children. State legislation ruled that labor permits would be granted to children at first. However, due to Pennsylvania law, children under 7 years old are allowed to work within film but this does not apply to television. Firemark and Bennett stated that essentially it may come down to the judge ruling that this would include television as well with some clarification. The next topic was about the ruling on the FCC's fleeting improper words list by Second Court Of Appeals is vague in its policy. Basically, Firemark and Bennett stated that the the lines of clarity of what is explicit language to use in the entertainment industry are unclear according to the FCC's standards. Therefore, a new policy is being suggested to be established in this podcast.
The next topic is the discussion of the Broadcast Performance Royalty For Sound Recordings. Bennett stated she lobbied on Capital Hill on behalf of the Grammy Organization for the Public Performance Royalty For Sound Recording Owners And Artists to be passed as law. This Broadcast Performance Royalty is stating that the broadcasters agree that royalties need to be paid but, a system needs to be set in place as it has been ongoing legal. Firemark and Bennett has summed up this situation to be the beginning of a compromise that would have to take place in the near future.
The next topic involved a lawsuit against Jay-Z involving copyright infringement. In Nafal v. Carter, Jay-Z being Shawn Carter, Ahab Joseph Nafal is suing Jay-Z for his song "Big Pimpin'" stating that is infringed on the copyright of his song "Khosara, Khosara". The two issues stemmed from the fact the song was under the Copyright Act Of 1909 and if Nafal had proper right to bring the lawsuit to Carter without having the actual exclusive rights. The lawsuit was dismissed for the moment but, Firemark stated that the case could reappear since this single has generated a vast amount of revenue. In terms of fair use, Firemark and Gordon talk about the producers of Jersey Boys are being sued Sofa Entertainment for a scene from the musical. The Jersey Boys musical is being accused of using a scene from The Ed Sullivan Show where he is introducing the Four Seasons on his television. Sofa Entertainment owns the rights to The Ed Sullivan Show. The issue that Firemark states is the actual introduction used in the Jersey Boys musical that the producers did not obtain permission to use. The ruling was that court saw the commercial use but did not see that there was market from materializing off of the Ed Sullivan introduction. Therefore, the ruling was in favor of the producers of Jersey Boys. Another fair use case involved a TV program called Eli Stone; the owner of the book, Ely Stone, is suing ABC for having similarities between the both of the works. The ruling of the court (Michigan District) is that there were similarities but not enough to claim infringement.
Getting The Attention Of Record Companies with Daniela Olivia, Female Musician Online - Vivian
Daniela Oliva is being interviewed by host, Vivian Clement. Daniela Olivia is a executive producer of the Toronto Independent Music Awards. She offers some insight into the legal aspects of the music business from he studying of Entertainment Law. Her reasoning for presenting the Toronto Independent Music Awards from wanting to work at HMV when she was younger (a music store to buy physical CDs and etc.). He work at this store got her into doing street promotion within her school for artists that she had ordered music at other major labels. One the labels she worked for was independent label that had a major label affiliation that flew her to the American Music Awards as a thank you for her hard work. When she arrived at the awards show, it made her want to apply the same idea to Toronto with the music awards ceremony.
Daniela stresses the involvement of other artists from other places with the Toronto Independent Music Awards to promote the idea of independent music. The main idea is include artists from these other areas to have the Awards ceremony. Daniela also offers her advice in terms of entertainment law and management for artists that obtain accolades and have successful careers. She states that legally you should understand what the terms of what you have when you are approached by management. Daniela advises that you should always have an entertainment lawyer on stand by in order to have legal counsel to assist you. Even though Daniela is mainly a producer behind the Toronto Independent Music Awards, she has also studied entertainment law and has had experience in management to assist other artists.
SCOREcast No. 15 - Interview with Entertainment Attorney Brad Thorton
The hosts from Scorecast interview Entertainment Attorney Brad Thorton who is producer and actor as well. Brad Thorton explains that beginning composers in the music field should always have retain a lawyer in order to gain experience and have protection. Brad Thorton states that he acquired the knowledge to be an entertainment lawyer first then he developed his skills as far as an artists later on. He explains that the issues of looking at intellectual property and understanding the concept of net profits when dealing with legal issues can take an artists far in their career. Thorton states that sometimes entertainment lawyers in some instances can also be managers as well. However, there is a difference between an entertainment lawyer and an agent since the agent has to be officially approved to find their clients employment as well.
Thorton goes into detail about what composers should to recieve credits in their films for their music. He states that composers should review their agreements with the film studios they work with and to agree on a certain percentages of royalties. Also, Thorton states that composers should definitely look into any arbitration if there appears to be an issue with the profit earned from scoring a film.
